If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Enjoy an ad free experience by logging in. Not a member yet? Register.

Details about IE8

Wired highlighted some info about the upcoming IE8 release as well as some future info that Microsoft spoke of:

About web standards:

* The target for CSS support in IE8 is full and complete support for CSS2.1.
* The only CSS3 module in IE8 is writing-mode (for vertical text support). IE has supported this since version 5.x, so it will continue to do so.
* IE8 will not support CSS' border-radius, which is often used to make rounded corners without images. Microsoft's Chris Wilson confirms that border-radius support is "high on the wish list," though, and should make its way into the next release after IE8.
* There is no official roadmap for IE9, but native SVG support is likely.
* A new JavaScript engine is likely down the road, too. A user asked: "Almost all others browsers are now considering JavaScript compilation. Safari introduced SquirrelFish and last week SquirrelFish extreme in reaction to V8. Mozilla has also started working on ScreamingMonkey. Will IE9 have a new JavaScript engine?" The response: "We're certainly focusing heavily on improving Javascript, in IE8 and beyond. I'd expect to see great things here in the future."

RC1 does not show any of the above and Microsoft only claims full support for CSS2.1 is a "target". It's pitiful about the SVG and border-radius support. Javascript is somewhat improved in IE8 but the DOM support and CSS3 is still pitiful.

My very limited tests with HTML5 showed IE8 beta2 doesn't show up to play. We can only look forward to IE9 making a few more baby steps or hope IEs demise altogether. It should be noted that ALL of the above has been implemented in ALL the other browsers for several years now (I didn't look through the writing-mode though).

Definitely looking forward to IE9. Like it or not, IE8 has made some major steps over its predecessor. SVG and border-radius would be lovely, and I'd adore for the major browsers to stop messing around and get some unified support for web fonts. Alas, a lot of problems come with this...